Notes. You can read many variations on this folktale type at Dan Ashliman's website: Ingratitude Is the World's Reward.
Summary: In this famous story from India, a brahmin and a tiger consult six different judges who will decide whether or not the tiger gets to eat the brahmin.
Read the story below:
THE BRAHMIN AND THE TIGER
The kindly brahmin
Once upon a time there lived in India a very good man. He was a Brahmin, or priest, and he had such a kind heart that he could not bear to see anything suffer. Everyone loved him, because he was so good to all the poor people and so gentle with the beasts.
One day, as the Brahmin was walking along the road, he saw a huge Tiger who had been caught by the villagers and put in an iron cage to punish him for his wickedness.
“Brother Brahmin, Brother Brahmin,” moaned the Tiger, “pray have pity on me and let me out of this cruel cage for one little minute, so that I may get a drink of water for I am dying of thirst.”
“Oh, no, Brother Tiger,” answered the Brahmin, “I could not do that, for you are being punished for your wickedness. Moreover if I should let you out of your cage, you would eat me up.”
“In truth, I would not,” answered the Tiger. “I would never do such an ungrateful thing. Have pity on me, kind Brother Brahmin, I pray!”
Then the Brahmin, feeling sorry for the Tiger, unlocked the cage door. But the moment he opened the door, the Tiger sprang out upon him, growling, “Gurr! gurr! gurr-r-r! Now I will eat you first and drink the water afterwards.”
The hungry tiger
“Why, Brother Tiger!” said the Brahmin, “do not kill me so hastily. You promised not to eat me, and now, when I set you free, you break your word. Is that fair, or just? Is that according to the law?”
“Gurr! gurr! gurr-r-r!” growled the Tiger. “I care not whether it is fair or just. I learned no law in the jungle. Man is the food for the beast.”
“But, Brother Tiger, you must listen to reason,” said the Brahmin. “We will ask six judges if you are keeping your word to me, and if each one of them says that you should kill me, then I am willing to die.”
“Very well,” agreed the Tiger, “we will ask the judgment of six and if they all say that you are to die, I shall kill you, but if anyone of them grants you your life, I will have to let you go.”
Banyan
So the Brahmin and the Tiger walked to a Banyan tree, and the Brahmin said: “Oh, Banyan tree, Banyan tree, hear and give judgment!”
“On what must I give judgment?” asked the Banyan tree.
“This Tiger was caught in a cruel cage,” said the Brahmin. “He was thirsty and begged piteously for a drink of water. He promised not to hurt me if I set him free. But when I did so, he sprang upon me to kill me. Do you think it fair and just for him to break his word?”
The Banyan tree rustled his leaves and whispered in a mournful voice, “Men take shelter under my boughs from the scorching rays of the sun. Yet when I have protected them and they are rested, they break my pretty branches and scatter my leaves and take my fruit. Men certainly are an ungrateful race! So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“Now, Brother Brahmin,” growled the Tiger, “I shall eat you.”
“One moment, Brother Tiger,” begged the Brahmin. “We agreed to ask six judges, and we have had the opinion of only one. You must not eat me yet.”
Camel
“Very well,” said the Tiger, and they went on till they met a Camel.
“Brother Camel, Brother Camel,” cried the Brahmin. “Hear and give judgment.” The Brahmin then told how he had opened the cage door for the Tiger and how the Tiger had broken his word. “Do you call that just, or right, Brother Camel?” asked the Brahmin.
“As just and right as I am treated by man,” snorted the Camel, gnashing his teeth in rage. “When I was young and strong and could carry a heavy load for my master, he took care of me and gave me food and shelter. Now I am old and have lost my strength in the service, and so he overloads me, starves me and beats me. Men are an unjust and cruel race. So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“Now, Brother Brahmin,” growled the Tiger, “I shall eat you.” And he sprang towards the Brahmin.
“Stop! Brother Tiger, stop!” said the Brahmin. “We have heard only the judgment of two.”
“Very well,” answered the Tiger.
Bullock
At a little distance they found a poor old Bullock, lying by the side of the road. “Brother Bullock, Brother Bullock,” said the Brahmin. “Hear and give judgment.” Then the Brahmin explained the whole story again and said, “Do you call that fair or just?”
“When I was able to work,” answered the Bullock, “my master fed me and treated me very carefully. Now I am old, he has forgotten all I ever did for him and has left me by the roadside to die. Men show no mercy to the beasts. So I say, let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“You hear that, Brother Brahmin?” growled the Tiger. “Now I shall eat you up.”
“Pray, Brother Tiger, have patience! We have met only half of our judges. I still have three more to ask.”
“Very well,” answered the Tiger, and they went on together.
Eagle
After a time they saw an Eagle flying through the air. “Brother Eagle, Brother Eagle,” shouted the Brahmin, “fly down here and give judgment.” The Eagle came soaring slowly down and sat upon a rock. Then the Brahmin told his whole story and said, “Do you think that it is fair, or just of the Tiger to eat me after I set him free?”
“Well,” answered the Eagle, “men are not fair nor just to me. Whenever men see me, they try to shoot me and they climb the rocks to spoil my nest and steal my little ones. Men know no pity. They seek only to slay us. So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“Hear that, Brother Brahmin? Now I shall have to kill you,” growled the Tiger.
“Have patience, Brother Tiger,” answered the Brahmin. “We have yet two more judges to ask.”
“Very well,” said the Tiger, and they went on their way.
Alligator
Presently they came to a river and in the mud they saw an old Alligator. The Brahmin told him the whole story hoping that the Alligator would give him a favorable answer. But the Alligator in great anger snorted out: “Humph! I hunt no man, but, whenever I put my nose out of the water, men torment me and try to kill me. As long as men live, we shall have no peace. So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
Then the Tiger, sprang toward the Brahmin. “This time I shall eat you up, for all are against you.”
The last judge
“One moment!” said the Brahmin. “I still have one opinion of the sixth judge.”
So the Tiger was obliged to wait, and by and by they met a little Jackal who came gaily prancing down the road.
“Oh, Brother Jackal! dear little Brother Jackal,” called the Brahmin, “please do stop a minute and give judgment.”
“On what must I give judgment?” barked the little Jackal.
Again the Brahmin told his story and asked, “Do you think it just, or fair that the Tiger should eat me up after I set him free from that cruel cage?”
“Cage, cage, cage?” asked the little Jackal in a perplexed tone. “I don’t quite understand. What sort of cage was it?”
“Why, a big iron cage down in the village,” answered the Brahmin. “The men had caught the Tiger to punish him for his wickedness. When I came down the road he begged for a drink of water and promised he would not eat me, if I set him free. But when I opened the cage-door, he sprang upon me to kill me. Do you call that fair, or just?”
“Dear me, dear me!” said the little Jackal. “How can I decide who is right or wrong until I see the cage and the exact position you were in when the quarrel began? Show me the place and I will try to judge.”
So the Brahmin and the Tiger and the little Jackal went back to the place where the empty cage stood.
The cage
“Oh, is that the cage?” asked the Jackal.
“Yes, yes,” answered the Brahmin.
“Well, Brahmin, show me exactly where you stood,” said the Jackal.
“Here,” said the Brahmin. “I stood here in the road looking in the cage at the cruel Tiger.”
“Where were you, Tiger?” asked the Little Jackal.
“Why, I stood in the cage, so!” answered the Tiger jumping into the cage, “and my head was leaning against the iron bars, so!”
“Very good, very good!” said the little Jackal. “But I cannot give judgment until I understand a little more. Why did you not come out by yourself, Tiger? Was the cage-door open, or shut?”
“Why, the cage-door was shut and bolted!” answered the Brahmin.
“Then shut and bolt it,” said the Jackal, “for I must see how all this happened.”
The Brahmin shut and bolted the cage-door and, turning to the Jackal, he said, “Now give us your judgment, Brother Jackal.”
“Ha-ha-ha!” barked the little Jackal, joyously. “Leave it locked! Leave it locked, Brother Brahmin! Oh, you wicked and ungrateful Tiger! After the good Brahmin was kind enough to open the cage-door, was it fair, or just, for you to spring upon him to kill him? You may stay in that cage all the rest of your life. Goodbye, Brother Brahmin, goodbye,” said the little Jackal. “My way leads this way and your way leads that. Goodbye!”
And away ran the little Jackal in one direction while Brother Brahmin went on his way, rejoicing that he was safe. And shut up in the cage, the old Tiger roared in a rage.
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